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Dementation
The peculiar power of the Cathexians revolves around their obsession with the insane and their need for the blood of the deranged. Each power allows the Quack to gain a better understanding, and control, of the mind’s more chaotic powers. Note: The user gains a +2 modifier when attempting to use this power against a vampire with whom he has blood ties or against individuals who he has affected with Dementation in the past. Those that have successfully resisted the power gain a +2 modifier to subsequent resistance rolls. • Psychoanalyze Due to the Cathexians’ dependence on the insane, the first power they master allows them to identify those with troubled minds. This ability allows a Cathexian to identify those within his line of sight who suffer from some form of derangement. Once identified, a second roll focusing on a specific individual, provides information about what derangements they are afflicted by. This power can be blocked by other supernatural powers, including Obfuscate. Cost: None Dice Pool: Intelligence + Academics + Dementation Action: Instant and Contested if used on a person protected by supernatural means, in which case the defender rolls Resolve + Blood Potency (or appropriate stat). Dramatic Failure: A false positive or misleading result, not the most helpful of situations for a thirsty Cathexian. Failure: There is no result at all. Success: Everyone within the character’s line of sight that turn is analyzed, and those with derangements stick out like sore thumbs. Exceptional Success: The power remains active for a scene, and determines which individuals have mild derangements, and which ones have severe problems. Suggested Modifiers 0 -------- Power is used on a group of 10 or fewer people -1 ------- For each additional person •• Instinctive Drive People’s passion can be their undoing. This power allows the character to stir a target’s emotions beyond natural levels, or cut them off entirely. A happy person laughs hysterically, a sad person screams in denial and an angry person goes into a rage. The effects only last a matter of turns (equal to successes), but can continue to affect the target after the effect if she and those around her don’t realize she is the victim of this power. Conversely, a sense of emotional detachment can desensitize a target to the point where the death of a loved one is meaningless. Cost: 1 Vitae Dice Pool: Manipulation + Empathy + Dementation vs. Resolve + Blood Potency Action: Instant and Contested reflexively Dramatic Failure: The Dementation user’s emotions get the better of him for the next turn. Failure: If successes rolled for the target equal or exceed those of the attacker, the attempt fails, and cannot be used on the same subject again that scene. Success: When the discipline user’s successes exceed those of the target, the power succeeds. For turns equal to the user’s total successes the victim indulges in whatever emotion was prominent at the time of the attack. The victim can spend a Willpower point to regain control for one turn at a time, but otherwise must act in accordance to that emotion. A victim with deadened senses acts accordingly, and can spend Willpower in the same manner. Exceptional Success: Winning a contested roll with more than five total successes allows the user to keep the victim in this state for the remainder of the scene, although Willpower can be used to temporarily negate the effects. If the victim is rendered unconscious, or put under the spell of another mental power, the effect ends. ••• Release the Id Speaking a few instigating words, a Cathexian can bring out the basest part of a person’s mind or send them reeling in a psychotic episode. This power is primarily used on those previously identified as deranged, as it causes the deranged to suffer a severe episode, but it can be turned on anyone with just a little bit of will put into the attack. Cost: 1 Vitae (adding 1 Willpower allows this power to affect the Vices of non-deranged individuals) Dice Pool: Presence + Empathy + Dementation vs. Resolve + Blood Potency Action: Instant and Contested reflexively Dramatic Failure: The Dementation user loses himself to his own derangements (or Vice at Storyteller’s discretion) for at least the next two turns. Failure: If successes rolled for the target equal or exceed those of the attacker, the attempt fails, and cannot be used on the same subject again that scene. Success: When the discipline-user’s successes exceed those of the target, the power succeeds. Deranged victims suffer an unusually extreme form of their derangement(s). A person without a derangement must indulge in their vice, no matter how inappropriate, for the same amount of time. Again, Willpower can be spent to hold back the affects for a turn. Exceptional Success: Winning a contested roll with more than five total successes allows the user to keep the victim in this state for the remainder of the scene, although Willpower can be used to temporarily negate the effects. If the victim is rendered unconscious, or put under the spell of another mental power, the effect ends. •••• Transference Just as the Cathexian can easily become a slave to his own derangements, he can cause others to suffer insanity even when they are otherwise sane. By looking into the eyes of a victim, the vampire can cause a temporary but very intense hallucinatory experience that haunts the victim long after the vampire has left. Victims of this power experience hallucinations when they least expect it and in a variety of forms (voices, images, etc.). The Dementation user has no control over the nature of these hallucinations or when they go into affect, but victims often experience episodes when they are alone, in the dark, or allow their minds to wonder (there are rarely more than five episodes a day). Cost: 1 Vitae Dice Pool: Manipulation + Intimidation + Dementation vs. Resolve + Blood Potency Action: Instant and Contested reflexively Dramatic Failure: The Dementation user becomes the victim of his own attack for the remainder of the scene. Failure: If successes rolled for the target equal or exceed those of the attacker, the attempt fails, and cannot be used on the same subject again that night. Success: When the discipline user’s successes exceed those of the target, the power succeeds. The effects last for a time based on the following chart: Success -------- Duration 1 ---------------- One scene 2 ---------------- One night 3 ---------------- Three nights 4 ---------------- One week 5+ --------------- One month ••••• Psychosis The most horrifying power of a Cathexian is the ability to inflict insanity upon another. Through dialogue and a form of hypnosis, the vampire can create a new derangement of his choice within a victim that is permanent, although it can be treated just as any other neurological disorder. This derangement is accompanied by an on-going hallucinatory problem, much like the effects of Transference, but these hallucinations only occur when the victim succumbs to his derangement (such as failing a Resolve roll). Cost: 1 Vitae and 1 Willpower Dice Pool: Manipulation + Empathy + Dementation vs. Resolve + Blood Potency Action: Extended and Contested reflexively. The Dementation user must accumulate at least 10 successes, with each roll representing 10 minutes of uninterrupted dialogue. If the target ties or achieves the required number first, the attempt fails and can’t be used on that victim for the duration of the night. Success on the user’s part gives the victim the desired derangement for one year. With 15 successes the effect is made permanent, but each success the victim earns after 10 subtracts from the accumulated successes of the attacker. The extended rolls can be made against the same victim over a series of consecutive nights, with the Dementation user picking up where he left off, provided he pays an additional Willpower point each night.